Oral history interview with Sonia Gutierrez
Object Details
- General
- Associated documentation, including partial transcripts, for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives. The textual transcripts are not verbatim of the audio recordings.
- Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
- Interviewer
- Corporan, Héctor, 1945-
- Names
- Council of Latino Agencies
- District of Columbia. Office on Latino Affairs
- Barry, Marion, 1936-
- Gutiérrez, Sonia
- Rosario, Carlos Manuel
- Collection Creator
- Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum
- Place
- Puerto Rico
- Washington (D.C.)
- United States
- Topic
- Puerto Ricans
- Women
- Teachers
- Women teachers
- Political activists
- Women political activists
- Latin Americans
- Hispanic Americans
- African Americans
- Education
- Adult education
- English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers
- Immigrants
- Discrimination
- Activism
- Demonstrations
- Home rule
- Community organization
- Emigration and immigration
- Interviews
- Interviewer
- Corporan, Héctor, 1945-
- See more items in
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records / Series 3: Oral History Interviews
- Sponsor
- Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
- Extent
- 2 Digital files
- 1 Sound cassette
- Date
- circa 1992-1993
- Archival Repository
- Anacostia Community Museum Archives
- Type
- Archival materials
- Digital files
- Sound cassettes
- Citation
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
- Collection Rights
- Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
- Note
- The total playing time of interview recording is approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- Scope and Contents
- Sonia Gutierrez, director of the Carlos Rosario Adult Education Center, spoke in detail about the origin, students, services, successes, challenges, and evolution of PEILA (Program of English Instruction for Latin Americans) and the Carlos Rosario Adult Education Center in Washington, DC. She also spoke about struggles faced by Latinos, including the anti-immigrant climate; the political activism and demonstrations to keep Latino education programs funded; and how the Black community and Latino community worked together to fight for home rule in Washington, DC. Gutierrez described the evolution of the Latino community in the Washington, DC, including the shift of leadership and how current leadership differed from early leadership. She detailed the long path to establish the Office of Latino Affairs in Washington, DC, which started with a sit-in outside of Mayor Washington's office; and the founding of the Council of Latino Agencies. She also discussed the roles of Marion Barry throughout this activism work. Gutierrez spoke about Latinos' immigration statuses and the decision making processes around becoming a United States citizen. She also briefly spoke about coming to Washington, DC in 1971, growing up in Puerto Rico in a middle class family and attending private school, her marriages, and being inducted into DC's Women's Hall of Fame. Sonia Gutierrez was interviewed by Hector Corporan. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include white noise and static; interviewee's voice is intelligible.
- Collection Restrictions
- Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
- Record ID
- ebl-1712088000981-1712088003376-1
- Metadata Usage
- CC0